OM face the league's only clean sheet

There's something almost cheeky about the fixture list handing Marseille this particular opponent at this particular moment. Lose to Monaco on matchday 2, then get told your next task is dismantling the only defence in Ligue 1 that hasn't been breached yet. Paris FC arrive at the Vélodrome unbeaten through two rounds and with a clean sheet in both, which is the kind of stat that either means nothing by October or means Marseille are about to find out exactly how good it is.

OM need the response, not just the result

Marseille went with a 4-2-3-1 for this one, Jeffrey De Lange keeping his place in goal behind a back four. The shape itself isn't the story: it's what OM do in front of it. A loss to Monaco doesn't sink a season three games in, but it does put a marker down for how the next 90 minutes need to look. Ligue 1 doesn't forgive slow starts for long, and Marseille know that better than most sides in the division.

Paris FC's numbers are the actual headline

Zero goals conceded in two matches is rare anywhere, and it's rarer still for a club that isn't automatically pencilled in as a top-six side. According to Foot Mercato's build-up coverage, Paris FC travelled to Marseille with that record intact and their team sheet largely reflecting the setup that's got them here. Whether that's a defensive block that's simply well drilled or a schedule that's been kind to them is exactly what this fixture is designed to answer, because Marseille at home is not the kind of test you can hide from.

The contrast in form

One side needs points to settle nerves after a defeat, the other needs points to confirm that the start wasn't a fluke. That's the actual tension here: Marseille have the crowd, the pressure and the recent history to sort out, while Paris FC have a number on the board that everyone else in the league is now watching closely. Something has to give on one side of that ledger by full time.

What decides it

Marseille's front line, set up in that 4-2-3-1, will get more service than Paris FC have faced in either of their first two matches, and that's the honest test of whether the visitors' clean sheets are built to last. If De Lange is watching a comfortable afternoon at the other end, that tells its own story about where OM's problems actually sit after Monaco.